Happy Father’s Day

Because I am married to an amazing husband, my kids and I have the opportunity to chase after our crazy adventures that we dream up. As Father’s Day arrives, I thought I would attempt to capture our love, admiration and appreciation of him in this blog piece.

To J-Hawk, Rosabell and Little Red’s Daddy,

Thank you for encouraging our kids to dig deep within themselves when they are faced with challenges that seem too tough. From steep sand dunes to tricky rock climbs, swift creek crossings, or just the final elevation push to get to camp, you always encourage the kids to push beyond their momentary fears or mental tiredness and challenge their inner strength to make them realize their strengths.

Thank you for making adventures fun. This can be a tough task at times with kids. From playing football in a basin at 6000 ft. or tossing kids into every lake and stream, you add the fun aspect to all of our trips.

Thank you for being the muscles of the group. Despite your own tiredness, you have hoisted a kid or two on your shoulders….while still carrying a 40 pound pack. You have been known to carry a combination of two 40 pound backpacks, or 1 pack plus kid plus dog, or a 60 pound pack plus kid just to make sure we all enjoyed our journey.

Thank you for making the kids feel larger than life. You can see this in their eyes as they scramble up to a view point they thought they couldn’t get to or rappel down a rock face when they can’t even see the ground.

Thank you for motivating the kids through the wins and loses. As each kid tags a summit or completes a tough backpacking trip, you are there to celebrate the victory. When the summit is just too far from reach or river current is just too fast to cross, you are there to help each kid stand tall in defeat.

Thank you for being our super hero and scaring all the bears away in the night when the kids wake you up from every noisy non-bear animal walking in the woods. Thank you for encouraging the alpine goats to go hang out elsewhere so we can go to bathroom in peace. We are ever so thankful for never abandoning your “spider relocation” duty.

Thank you for being selfless and walking each kid out in the middle of the night when they finally realize they do need to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW!

Thank you for teaching them survival skills like snot rockets, potty squats, using a blue bag, watering trees and baby wipe showers. These are valuable skills that sometimes can only be taught by a well seasoned dad.

Thank you for having level head. Not every parent can manage a two diarrhea blowouts (from the 4 year old) on a snowshoeing trip three miles from the car while the other kid slips into a pool of ice cold water and submerges both boots completely. Any parent might have given up when one was crying from being too cold and the other was screaming as underwear were being cut off. Instead, you threw one kid on your back and we all sang songs to distract from the discomfort for the next two hours back to the car.

I’ll add sweet pictures here since you don’t want to see that footage.

Thank you for leading the way. When the route seems sketchy or intense, you blaze a path for the kids to ensure their safety and my reassurance. You are willing to lead a rock climb and head into a cave first.

Thank you for your patience; a skill best challenged as a parent. For example, when one child arrives at the trailhead in two left shoes or when we used to wake up in a sea of warm liquid, or when the kids….oh, wait, I need to actually wrap this blog up.

Thank you for supporting our crazy dreams and goals. We get this opportunity to run all over and explore because of your hard work. When we are out setting up camp below a summit, you are still at work. The kids and I come up with some crazy ideas and we love that you are crazy enough to join us.